Richard Branson has way too much money and free time

By M&C People Apr 21, 2008, 18:33 GMT

Sir Richard Branson, CEO of the Virgin Group, EPA/JUSTIN LANE

With everything going on in the world - a looming food crisis that is already affecting a good swath of humanity, a raging oil war, the rise of zealotry in all religions, the lack of affordable or competent health care for the majority of people and Prince William smushing his gal Kate's petunias with an RAF chopper - gazillionaire Sir Richard Branson is initiating space nuptials.

The Virgin mogul - the ever smiling Branson - plans to be the first man to marry a couple in space.

Branson reportedly will conduct the ceremony 70 miles above the Earth on the first Galactic sub-orbital flight next year.

It was a aero-wedding he conducted last year on a plane that must have sparked a further desire to join mortal beings in unearthly settings.

The jovial blond bon vivant married Virgin America marketing director Dimitrios Papadognonas and Coco Jones on a Virgin flight from San Francisco to Las Vegas.

Wedding people off in unusual style must be a lifelong passion he can now afford to plan extravagantly, as Branson also oversaw the ceremony of Google co-founder Larry Page on Branson's very own private island, Necker, in the Caribbean.

The Daily Mail (UK) reported that Branson's space wedding will most likely cause a flurry of weddings for the very rich and bored.

The Mail reports that the space couple who ponied up the $200K+-a-ticket maiden flight are Virgin Galactic adviser George Whitesides and his new wife, Loretta Hidalgo.

Branson has made no secret that space tourism is where his next fortune lies.

The Mail notes that, "actress Victoria Principal, the designer Philippe Starck and wheelchair-bound Professor Stephen Hawking have paid for trips...200 people have paid for the sub-space experience. Princess Beatrice, whose partner Dave Clark works in the marketing department of Virgin Galactic, has said she plans to be the first Royal in space."